Guy Freeman
Guy and Sue Freeman have signed up to be Grey Nomads for the Bush Church Aid (BCA) society – an organisation that does what its name says, support churches in regional and remote Australia. They have stories about what happens when you travel the red dirt.
Yes, we are grey nomads, but when we travel under the auspices of BCA, we are BCA Nomads, which is different. It is travel with a purpose as opposed to travel for its own sake.
The purpose, as far as we are concerned, is to encourage and serve the BCA field staff in regional, rural, and remote Australia.
I think that this trip (which we have committed to be at least two years) will have a Barnabas essence: more focused on encouragement rather than focused on being labourers … especially as my capacity for hard work is diminishing as my decrepitation is increasing.
Sue and I were introduced to the idea of becoming BCA Nomads when we visited John Clarkson, who married us when he was rector of St Barnabas Church, West Wyalong. Pointing out that we were God botherers who enjoyed van life, he suggested we join BCA and combine both interests.
We understand that BCA’s Nomads ministry began when the Bush Church Aid Society decided to tap into what they thought would be a valuable resource: Christians who were part of the grey nomads set.
So, John Clarkson inspired us to apply, but what motivates us is the opportunity to serve others – either in a group context, such as at the Katherine Christian Conference in the first weekend of May, or individually, as we, like other Nomads, visit field staff throughout Australia. As Sue and I enjoy travelling to remote Australia, serving through BCA Nomads seemed to be a good fit. Our fellow Nomads call what we do, travel with a purpose … and that really suits us.
When we travel as BCA Nomnads, we try to have gospel flavoured conversations as often as possible … and with whomever.
At a BCA Nomads gathering at Narromine in 2019, Rev James Daymond encouraged everyone to initiate gospel conversations wherever we went: in caravan parks, in the bush at happy hour, around the campfire or even door-to-door … basically anywhere.
My preferred strategy is to chat and say we are BCA Nomads and say, “One thing I like to do as I travel around with BCA is to ask people awkward questions. Can I ask you one?”
Surprisingly, most people carelessly say yes. So I then ask something awkward, such as “Do you have a relationship with Jesus?” or “If you died tonight, where do you think you’d end up and why?” etc.
Sometimes a gospel conversation ensues, sometimes it doesn’t.
We stayed at Nundle in the New England area of NSW a few years ago, and two nights in a row, we ended up praying (laying hands upon) for people we’d just met in the caravan park.
Being a BCA Nomad has the potential to be a lot of fun … and we get to see lots of our backyard. Often, we will be invited by the locals to see and experience things that are not on the general tourism itinerary; we get to see the areas through the eyes of the people we’ve gone to serve.
We go to serve, but I reckon we come home blessed beyond our wildest expectations.
In the indigenous community called Billiluna, at the eastern end of the Canning Stock Route, the van completely separated from the car (pictured). We had camped at Lake Gregory, and the next morning, inadvertently found ourselves on the fabled stock route. I felt the van slowing the car and saw that two of the tow hitch’s four bolts had sheared off and the hitch had buckled enough to apply the van’s handbrake, which I released to keep going.
I tightened the chains in case the other bolts broke. They did … and we completed the journey on chains only!
In Billiluna, I took a wrong turn into a dead-end street and, while reversing out, the chains snapped and the van fell in the middle of the road.
Thankfully, a man related to the Bush Mechanics (of YouTube fame) was able to straighten the hitch and supply four high-tensile bolts to ensure we could continue our journey in the morning.
We had a similarly interesting time at Henbury Craters, near Alice Springs.
We sat in the car with the aircon going because it was too hot to get out.
We saw a young couple who were travelling, as we were, and invited them to dine with us.
During the evening, while chatting, I asked one of those awkward questions. I asked who they thought Jesus was, and a conversation ensued.
They ended up asking Sue how she prayed, and Sue explained.
The next morning, as we were leaving the campsite, a water tank fell from under the van.
I tried wiring it up so we could drive away, but the sharp metal kept cutting the cable ties … and I’d forgotten to pack any wire.
Frustrated, I returned to the car and explained my dilemma to Sue and simply pleaded, Pray!
She did, and, stepping out of the car, she saw the only bit of scrap in the area – it was a hoop of wire that was just the right size and length to make three secure ties.
Next, our dining companions turned up. Sue explained what was happening, and when she told them about the desperate prayer and the immediate answer, their jaws almost fell open into the dust in surprise.
As we eventually set off for Alice Springs, we thanked the Lord for the amazing answered prayer and the fabulous witnessing opportunity; we did add, though, that we wouldn’t mind if it was less dramatic in future.
[Guy sent this dramatic photo, showing what they don’t want to do again.]
This was the second time this wheel had come off the camper. Each time, the red hot wheel rolled into the bush and started a fire beside the incapacitated van.
While serving with fellow BCA Nomads John and Annie Schipper at Katherine and at the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship family camp at Condobolin, we were inspired to “keep up with the Schippers” by buying a new Zone caravan (yes, from the company that just went bust … doesn’t the Lord have an interesting sense of humour?). It’s towed by a Toyota Land Cruiser 200 series with many extras to make it bush-ready.
So, we now intend to live full-time in the van for at least two years, travelling wherever we can be useful, serving primarily, the BCA field staff, scattered all over the country.
We will aim to avoid cyclones, floods, and fires as we plan when and where we travel. We are looking forward to going to places where we’ve never been and returning to places and people we’ve loved and enjoyed in the years since we first became BCA nomads in 2018.
What does being a good BCA Nomad look like when we arrive at a place to serve? It depends; if it’s a group event, such as the Katherine Christian Convention, we will have jobs assigned before we arrive, and we’ll settle into our accommodation and get together to work as the team we have come to be.
While serving with fellow BCA Nomads John and Annie Schipper at Katherine and at the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship family camp at Condobolin, we were inspired to “keep up with the Schippers” by buying a new Zone caravan (yes, from the company that just went bust … doesn’t the Lord have an interesting sense of humour?).
So, we now intend to live full-time in the van for at least two years, travelling to wherever we can be useful serving primarily the BCA field staff, scattered all over the country.
We will aim to avoid cyclones, floods, and fires as we plan when and where we travel. We are looking forward to going to places where we’ve never been and returning to places and people we’ve loved and enjoyed in the years since we first became BCA nomads in 2018.
What does being a good BCA Nomad look like when we arrive at a place to serve? It depends; if it’s a group event, such as the Katherine Christian Convention, we will have jobs assigned before we arrive, and we’ll settle into our accommodation and get together to work as the team we have come to be.
When we’re travelling around on our own, we aim to avoid arriving unannounced and come with as few expectations as possible, as we get to know the people we’ve come to serve. That way, they can work out how we can serve with the skills and abilities/availability we can offer.
Main image: Guy and Sue Freeman in the formation called the Cathedral at Purnululu, aka the Bungle Bungles in northeast WA.